The UB School of Law named S. Todd Brown as its next dean.
Brown will assume the role of dean effective May 9. He has served as interim dean since July 2023.
“We are delighted that Professor Brown will serve as dean of our School of Law,” UB President Satish Tripathi said in a press release. “With his depth of legal expertise, his impressive scholarship and his demonstrated commitment to our university mission, Professor Brown is ideally suited to lead the School of Law and advance its national reputation for legal education and scholarship.”
Brown joined the Law School faculty in 2009 and has served as a professor, a William J. Magavern Faculty Scholar and the vice dean for academic affairs.
From 2017 to 2023 he lectured in the Department of Psychiatry in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Brown is “a frequent author and lecturer on bankruptcy trusts, chapter 11, complex litigation and mass torts,” according to the School of Law website. His work has been cited in state and federal judicial opinions, and he has testified before Congress.
Prior to his time at UB, Brown was an Abraham L. Freedman Fellow at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and worked at the law firms WilmerHale and Jones Day.
Brown graduated from Columbia Law School in 1999 with a juris doctor degree and earned his L.L.M. in 2009 from Temple University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1996.
Brown will be the 21st dean since the UB School of Law was founded in 1887.
“In my 15 years at UB, including the last eight years as academic dean and interim dean, I have had the privilege of witnessing the passion and commitment that our community has for the law school,” Brown said in a UB press release. “Our faculty, staff and alumni have been critical to our recent successes, and I look forward to working with our community as we build upon our strong foundation going forward.”
Former Dean Aviva Abramovsky stepped down in July 2023 and returned to the position of faculty professor. She was the 19th permanent dean and first woman to hold the position at the UB School of Law.
Ryan Tantalo is the managing editor and can be reached at ryan.tantalo@ubspectrum.com
Ryan Tantalo is the managing editor of The Spectrum. He previously served as senior sports editor. Outside of the newsroom, Ryan spends his time announcing college hockey games, golfing, skiing and reading.
